Carli The Quilter

I am always honoured to make someone a memory quilt. As time has passed in my quilting life, spanning 50 years. I've become very humbled by each new request for a Memory Quilt. Its always a bit exciting, I let the clothing talk to me, my sense of the spirit in the clothing guides me thru. It's emotional, so let yourself cry a little. The clothing have told me where to go in this design, not finished yet. Take care and thank you for still reading my blog. Happy Quilting, Carli  

As the last bit of a chill is hovering over the Cowichian Valley, the ground, plants, trees and birds are just bursting at the warmth of spring to come. Its just not planting weather yet. I have been enjoying my altered clothing experience! I highly recommend it for anyone who knows how to sew! The purple/blue plaid shirt purchased from Hudson's Bay store in Victoria shrunk badly after the first wash. I love these colors and wanted to get more use from brand new shirt. The shirt after washing and hanging to dry was too short. I didn't want to lose the cowboy shirt rounded front style but I think most of us would prefer a little more belly coverage than this length offered me? This upcycling adventure was not the first altered clothing I had done since in my late teens. I learned upcycling from a German trained tailor while living part time on Long Beach before it was a National Park. I was quite dissapointed when I took this shirt out of the washer. I ...

Well, I picked a super huge bunch of fresh strawberries and wished I had time to quilt today, but that was just not on the list for today. But just had to share a photo of these lovely yummy deliciousness! Now, when I started getting ready to participate with Adrienne's Finish Along, I was slightly blown away with my progress so far!! Thank you Adrienne for your kind comments and enthusiasm for getting things finished! A slight side bar, here, I follow Adriennes blog and when I noticed her little "Finish Along" button, I was thinking "Ya, I can do that! It will help me stay motivated." But little did I realize that this "2015 Finish Along with Adrienne at On the Windy Side" actually had prizes and fun stuff like that going on. Well, I was shocked by that I think deep down, it made me want to show off and finish things for REAL! This was finished as of April 6, 2015 and it made many people smile a smile a mile wide. I was really tick...

T-shirt quilts are such a pleasure to make, really, they go together quite fast, once I finally had to time to get to work on these two.  Two brothers will be the recepient of these t-shirt quilts and I'm so grateful to my client who was in no hurry for them and for that I thank you! When you make a t-shirt quilt, you get to know that person just a tiny bit. Its such a proactive way to relive the memories of the t-shirts themselves. Some shirts have 3-D parts to them and you must find a way to incorporate these features as well. Sorry these are so crappy I was under pressure to get this photo  before it rained again. The backs are not the same and offer different affects to each. I was really proud that this past post on the giveaway was so popular and its reminds me that I really do have followers. And while I'm on that point, I didn't realize this earlier but my settings were  wonky and if you didn't have a Google + ac...

hi folks, this is a quick post with few words, I've got company coming and doing housework, but just had to share the latest progress on a new t-shirt quilt I'm making. Generally, the colors are decided prior to beginning. I cut various sized strips and then start creating various patterns around each precut logo. Then, lots of new color is purchased as I go. This block is just one example. Eventually, you'll arrive at some kind of layout, you decide what is happening to make the quilt. You'll see that this layout is not quite set. I don't like how the two lower left blocks have a similar strip of the same fabric on the left sides of each of those two blocks, that is not satisfying to me, I'd move it. I find making one of a kind quilts is the thing I enjoy and love to do, its the same with my crazy quilts that I've got all  being completed, these will go into my first show next year. Must run now and get bac...

I recently picked this book entitled "Quilts Among the Plain People" and I was refreshed by the way the Amish people seem to get along with each other.  Quilting and sewing skills are taught in the early ages, where girls learn how to sew beside their Mother. I've always been attracted to this idea because of my own lack of learning from my own Mother. Its a wonder I turned out at all. Little encouragement for others can be found in the heart of a person suffering a mental illness. My mother was ill for all her life.  That's the sad part and the part that all us kids didn't fall by the wayside says a lot for my sweet older sister.  T-shirt quilt making for me started in the 1990's when I became very focused on reusing as much as I could. I decided that our used t-shirts required alternative uses from becoming automotive rags. This article from the 1980's told of making t-shirts into quilts. I was hooked. Unfortunately this well before...

A new commission is on my table. I truly love making t-shirt quilts. And this one a gecko in it. I intend to machine quilt this piece. Happy Quilting to all my combined followers of over 400. Wow, thank you for seeing and reading valuable techniques. I follow several of you as well. My UFO's are on the table for summer projects. Thank you for all the comments on what to do with my UFO pile. Some of you even emailed me personally. I'm taking all you advice.

When doing photo transfers, I usually have no issues and even years later the transferred photos are beautiful. At first, my anxiety was huge, worrying how the heck I'd ever make it look like the new quality it started with, but thankfully, my son talked me down to a normal level of anxiety. You know just the kind of anxiety felt when you're in the middle of big project and something goes wrong. So this is the problem. In this photo below, the red color from previously sewn on playing cards ran into the white fabric from several drops of water. Its shaded and looks worse than it is in this photo, but the local photo transfer business was not at fault, it was the company I used in Smithers that had obviously forgotten that my playing cards transfer MUST be properly water proof and of an excellent quality for my commission. I have my work cut out for me now! I've been slowly but surely hand extracting the tiny stitches around each one of the playing car...

I see several fun posts lately on T-shirt quilts. And it got me thinking about my past t-shirt quilts. I have accomplished the design and making of one of a  kind t-shirt quilts. This means that each quilt is designed specifically for the person who wants it. I've made a few since first starting 2008 into using up t-shirts into a warm and memorable quilt. But I must say that making a quilt can take on a life of itself. Deadlines for clients mean that you must have it completed by the agreed time. It also means that you really get to know your client. Its amazing and very heart warming to me and with that in mind, you might want to make one yourself. Be aware, making them is an addiction! Applique is a must if you are really being creative! Adding interest to the t-shirt quilt starts by planning! Get out your graph paper and get busy! And this is what I'm up to today, playing online, reading emails from a few weeks ago and catching up on ...

Charlene is a sweetie, she is so enthused by all the crafting going on in the Bulkley Valley. She was our lucky winner of our door prize for our 1st. Annual Re-Crafting Fair on Feb 9th.  Her name was picked out of the hat and when I called her, she immediately said she was going to have me do a special t-shirt quilt for her son, Billy. So I started. By sewing down sashing on the sides as seen below to start attaching the same size  blocks throughout this t-shirt quilt.   The finished quilt hung in my woodshed. If you haven't made a t-shirt quilt, there are several different ways you can make a t-shirt quilt. I had the instructions for this quilt "It can't be too girly, its for my son and he's a skier" so this quilt became my opportunity to get to know Billy a little more. But I knew that some fun had to be instilled into these manly quilt despite the  need for a handsome quilt.  So I made the borders something special. This...

My story as quirky as my life is with such a focus as quilting in my life, I'm so overwhelmed with the kind comments, the new followers and to be featured anywhere is such an honor! As you all know by now, the SCQP has been the main focus of my work over the past year. But I love to take a little break and do something that is well, how should I say, less taxing on my brain, my skill and not so stressful with real deadlines! So when my good friend and Bulkley Valley neighbor won the door prize at our recent 1st. Annual Re-Crafting Fair, I jumped at the opportunity to make a T-Shirt quilt. Here's a few shots of the progress so far. While these photos are not my best, you get the idea of the new techniques I'm using to finish a T-Shirt Quilt. If you've not ever made a t-shirt quilt, there are no mysteries  here, its straight forward with cutting the logo's back and front simultaneously in 12.5 inch or 16 inch blocks.  Notice the...